Failure
by TheFatController
Summary: A rookie genin team was sent on a simple C-rank mission. Which turned into a B-rank mission. Which turned into an A-rank mission. Was there ever really a chance of that ending well. Warning Character Death and Mutilation.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, shocking isn't it?**

Kakashi's ninja hounds burst out of the ground and held Zabuza down as the white haired Jounin charged up a Raikiri.

"Well I did say you'd die." he said before lunging forward and plunging his lightning coated fist into... Sakura. The poor girl had been guarding Tazuna as best she could. Which is to say, inadequately. It was nothing against her skill, simply that she was a genin and they had been caught up in a fight between two famous jounin. She had, quite frankly been scared stiff. Naruto and Sasuke had been trapped inside a dome of ice, apparently losing to their opponent, Kakashi was in a fight she could only dream of keeping up with and, as such, when Zabuza had used a kawarimi there was little she could do to counter. Wide eyed, her perfectly kept clothes became stained with blood, shock and betrayal evident in her facial expressions. Kakashi had killed her.

In that moment, a cloud of red chakra and a killing intent to rival the shinigami's burst out of the ice dome and Haku was blasted into the air only to be ripped apart by a savage looking Naruto, Sasuke lying unmoving on the floor with enough senbon in him to pass them off as a fur coat. Turning towards where Zabuza and Kakashi were, Naruto caught sight of Sakura, still hanging from his sensei's hand. The heavy chakra intensified and surrounded him like a cloak. Growing first one then a second tail in his rage, Naruto sped towards the pair no longer caring who he killed. In fact he aimed first for Kakashi, the one who had killed his love interest. As he reached them, however, so Zabuza swung his blade, attempting to kill Kakashi quickly as he was still in shock. Hitting Naruto instead as he sped past, Zabuza's blade was stopped, giving Kakashi enough time to finish him with the same attack that just took the life of his pupil. The Lightning blade pierced his heart finally ending the life of the Demon of the Mist. Looking around at the battlefield, however, the Copy-nin couldn't help but feel that the mission was a failure. He had protected the bridge against its greatest threat, true, but at the cost of Sakura, by his own hand, at the cost of Sasuke, brought down under the weight of a jutsu no genin could be expected to counter, at the cost of his final pupil's arm, lost in the boy's despair and righteous anger, his life spared only by the beast that he was cursed to bear. No, today had been a failure. A failure the likes of which Kakashi had not experienced since the death of his teammate Obito, and the loss of Rin who had left Konoha, unable to bear the pain of memories.

"Looking at your achievements Kakashi?", came a snarl from beneath him. Looking down he saw Naruto, somehow still conscious, the stump of his arm already beginning to close up. "Congratulating, yourself on a mission well done?"

"Naruto..."

"No Kakashi. You don't even deserve to call me that. You don't deserve to speak to me. We should never have been here. The mission was over our heads and you know it. We should have turned back after the Demon Brothers, but no. This was supposed to be a C-rank, teme. An easy mission. Something a genin can handle. It was your decision to continue. Sasuke and myself said we were OK with it but you should have known different. There's a reason genin don't go on B-ranks. There's sure as hell a reason we aren't supposed to go on A-ranks. Did you even call for backup when Zabuza showed up? We had over a week, they had plenty of time to make it. Then again maybe you wanted this. Everyone knows you never let genin pass. You got bored of us and decided you were right in the first place, is that it? After all it's just a few genin, no major loss to the village, huh? You didn't exactly overexert yourself training us did you? What exactly were you doing in all those hours we were sat around waiting for you? Was it worth Sakura's life? Was it worth Sasuke's life? You screwed us over Kakashi! Right now we should be back in Konoha complaining about the stupid D-rank missions and how it was so unfair you made us abandon this mission. I would have asked Sakura out and she'd reject me in the most brutal way she could think of. She'd call me a baka, then turn to Sasuke and suggest the exact same date I suggested to her. Sasuke'd just ignore her, or make a comment about how annoying she was. We'd be alive. I'd still have my arm. Konoha would still have the sharingan and we'd all be fine. I'd be walking around being obnoxiously loud and trying to ignore the looks of hatred from the villagers. Sasuke would walk around being excessively grumpy and try to ignore the looks of awe from the villagers. Sakura's parents wouldn't have to see us coming home alive only to tell them their daughter wasn't so lucky. By all rights I should be dead too. If it weren't for a little furry problem of mine, I would be. Make no mistake Kakashi, you didn't just kill Sakura, you killed us all. Now get the hell out of my sight. Quite frankly if I have to look at you any longer I'll finish what my feral self tried to start."

As Naruto finished he went to pick up Sasuke's body, taking care to kick Zabuza in the head on the way past. Somehow managing to pick up his rival with one arm he placed him beside

Sakura.

"I suppose in death you two can finally be together Sakura. Heh... I bet Sasuke would be pissed at me for this. I guess this counts as my final gift to you. Not to mention a way to get back at Sasuke. This is for dying in my place, teme. You know with your sharingan you could have beaten her just as well as I did. You'd probably even look cooler doing it. Who knows, if you weren't such a noble git maybe I'd have taken your place and you'd be here right now. You sure as hell wouldn't be stupid enough to run at a couple of jounin and get your arm cut off. You could have gone on and killed your brother just like you always wanted. At least then one of us could have fulfilled their dream right? I'll get stronger guys I promise. It's sure as hell gonna be difficult, hell, I can't use hand signs and my taijutsu's gonna suck with only one arm but I can do it. I'll avenge your family for you, Sasuke, or I'll die trying. It's the least I can do. I'll learn how to fight with only one arm, and I'll be bloody good at it too. Maybe I can make a name for myself as the One Armed Bandit or something ridiculous like that. Maybe If I can do that I might one day be able to forgive myself for requesting a C-rank in the first place."

Getting Tazuna to help him move the pair off the bridge to a stretch of grass, he began to dig two graves side by side, forgoing the use of tools and using only his hand, powered by chakra. Rejecting Tazuna's help when he offered and telling Kakashi to piss off when he got within ten feet. Finally, a couple of hours later, he was finished and lowered the two into the graves before refilling them and carving onto a rock with a kunai the inscription: _Here lie Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. They died as heroes for people they didn't know and martyrs for a cause not their own. May they rest in peace and may Kami have mercy on us who failed them._

**A/N: Please Review. Also, should I continue the story or would it just end up ruining what I think works pretty well as a short story on its own?**_  
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